Crime & Safety
Fire Devours Downtown Building By Santa Monica (10) Freeway
A fire broke out in a 20,000-square-foot vacant commercial building Tuesday, forcing the closure of several lanes on the 10 Freeway.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A greater-alarm fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a 20,000-square-foot vacant commercial building alongside the Santa Monica (10) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, and firefighters were battling the blaze in part from an elevated portion of the freeway after the building structurally collapsed.
The "San Pedro Fire" started about 4:10 p.m. in the one-story building in the area of San Pedro Street and Washington Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department's Brian Humphrey.
Within 15 minutes of the firefight, the building structurally collapsed, but none of the 101 firefighters were injured, Humphrey said.
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Crews conducted a defensive operation to battle the flames, and all but one lane of the eastbound 10 Freeway were blocked by two fire engines.
As of 5 p.m., the blaze was still burning. There was no immediate word on what triggered the fire.
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